The whole album speaks about the Mike Kinsella's (band's frontman and vocalist/guitarist) breakup, but it has some other subtle yet impactful themes hidden. This work of art is a 11/10 for me. I recommend listening it in late summer and autumn. It hits different if you experience some of the feelings described in this album.
The album starts with their most recognizable, most covered and the most recognizable song in the genre. One could say its "the Midwestern emo song". Lyrically it tolds the story about a "tragic" breakup of a relationship. The subject (band's frontman mike Kinsella, also the writer of lyrics as far as I know) describes his feeling of a breakup in the autumn when he was 17 (he wrote the lyrics when he was in his early 20's). He and his girlfriend realized that the relationship isn't going the way they meant... this relationship wasn't supposed to work out from the beginning (since the title "never meant").
Many relationships, especially from the teenage years don't work out and couples break up (i could say that I'm speaking from experience). The song describes the feelings of breakup in an almost bittersweet way - when you go through a breakup, especially for the first time you don't know what or how to feel, you just feel that something is lost and that the relationship as never meant to be a successful one. The line " 'Cause you cant miss what you forget '" is just perfect, it signals that one should just forget and try to move on with the mistake or relationship, a crush or that special someone, or a feeling. The guitars are in two different tunings (midwestern emo tunings often resemble chords) and that melts in together perfectly with the math rock/midwestern emo esthetics. The intro riff (that is repeated) is in fact the most recognizable and covered riff of the whole genre.
The summer ends, perfectly describes the season this album should be best enjoyed in. Just imagine the late September in America's midwest... or somewhere. The summer warm begins to fade, the gentle cold of autumn begins... This is in some way resembled by the theme and melody. Lyrics speak about a goodbye from that (special) someone or something(end of a collage semester, summer holidays, a summer friendship). We often struggle or simply don't know how to properly say goodbye and we aren't ready for it. How would one give a goodbye to a special someone, a crush you just got rejected, a friend that is moving, someone that you might never see again? What and how do you feel before and after saying a goodbye? The song can also resemble a coming of age, be it from school/collage/uni, moving out, end of the summer holidays,... At one time we just want to keep it going but we know it won't work out in the end(a possible reference to the previous song). If you look at the song names, they kind of continue and form a whole...
This song looks directly back to the subject's past - his teenage years. Again its about a part of a broken relationship. One way, its also about teenage years of one's life - uncovering the truths and lies and why's/how's about the world, life, the people around.. And learning of many hardships that come with life and that things aren't always how you picture them (relationship in this example).
For sure starts with the soothing, yet somehow sorrow riff accompanied by gentle trumpet(played by the drummer). One can find beauty, solitude, change and a feeling of blissful sorrow. The lyric talk yet again about the subject's relationship, especially the happening in summer - June. He imagines how nice would it be for them to be together, happy. Would this (relationship) work out for sure or not? One can imagine how something would work out perfectly, let it be career, life, lifelong dream, romance,.... We always have dreams (its good to have a dream and follow it) but to what extent? Is it ok to give up, knowing that something might now work out (for sure). Some questions are better left and given to life to tech us the truth (in many ways not an ideal).
When we are about leaving (after saying goodbye - depicted in the summer ends, yet again confirming the lore-like linkage between the songs). The song is instrumental and it suits it perfectly, when we leave something (special someone in this case) nothing but empty thoughts fill us. We are left speechless, knowing we may never see that special someone (something) again and experience the feelings we had during the past blissful time.
The songs speaks completely about the authors regret and coming to terms with it (the change in the guitar riff) - and in the end thinking yet again what he did wrong (we never know if the author came with its terms). This song has the most directly sorrowful melody in the album. We have many regrets, albeit small or large or some that follow us around our whole life. Lyrics speak about the four long years of his relationship and the regretful ending and the effect regrets have on him. Melody is like a rush of an endless cycle of thoughts we have when feeling regretful, looking back, and reminiscing about everything.
We have all sorts of explained and unexplained emotions that surface or bury deep in ourselves. When it comes to people around us it surfaces or buries even deeper. This reminds me of the Hedgehog's dilemma, it speaks about the "challenge" of human intimacy. Subject hopes to reunite (how?) with his special someone, and leaving with regrets, hoping to see her when their emotions get better(did they ever reunite?).
I think the songs speaks about the coming of age, growing up and thinking back on how your life during the childhood, teenage years and perhaps collage has been. They are the years of innocence we never experience again, in some way it completes the lore of previous songs and speaks about the authors coming of age, perhaps moving out, trying to make a living, thinking back on his teenage/collage years, the hardships of adulthood..... Its like the "life" song. The melody is a union of two guitars and an everlasting blissful, yet sorrowful and warming in some way and is amazing to play on a guitar.
What a way to end an album! Such a nice instrumental. This time an union of trumpet, and two guitars, one playing a melody filled with natural harmonics. It completes the album's narrative and lefts us to think about it all.